As the global economy finally begins to exhibit signs of healing, those who stand on the sidelines invested in Southern Oregon real estate must be wondering, does this mean we’ve hit the bottom? Like weather forecasters with faulty radar, many who’ve predicted impending real estate recovery have been long on optimism and short on accuracy. For the last two years I’ve hoped that the beginning of the end of the Southern Oregon real estate crisis was around the corner, only to watch the crisis worsen. Now, after both TARP and additional bailout programs introduced by the Obama Administration, I believe we just may have hit the bottom. But two driving forces continue to nip at the heels of the economic recovery, and they are confidence and fear.

So how does one instill confidence in the real estate markets from Southern Oregon to Southern Florida? Continue reading Fear, Confidence, and the Southern Oregon Real Estate Market

Confidence is coming back. I can taste it in the air. I can see it in the office. I can feel it in my clients and agents. Yes, the pulse of the Southern Oregon real estate market is getting stronger by the day, and along with the blossoms of spring comes the increase in real estate activity traditionally exuded by buyers and sellers at this time of year.

For buyers, confidence means making the decision to purchase properties that they’ve identified but hesitated to buy from fear that the the price might drop further and that they’d be paying too much. While statistically more foreclosures are still coming on the market, buyers are sensing that the market is at its low and prices have nowhere to go but up. Once again, buy low, sell high reigns supreme.

As for sellers Continue reading Confidence in the Southern Oregon Real Estate Market

What everyone now understands and for the most part accepts is the fact that the U.S. economy is in a state of major repair. As a byproduct of repairing the economy, the Green Economy offers solutions that may well prove to be the answer for a failing infrastructure, a sluggish real estate market, and dependence on foreign oil. As a result, the Southern Oregon real estate market is experiencing an awakening to the power of the Green Economy to stimulate the economy on its journey toward a new economic paradigm.

Simply put, the Southern Oregon real estate market is moving from greed to green. In my own business ventures, my current subdivision called Summer Field, has a very large Green Economy component. Not only will the development be comprised of high performance energy-efficient homes, but the subdivision will also take advantage of Continue reading The Green Economy and the Southern Oregon Real Estate Market

As many of you already know, the Southern Oregon real estate market is dependent on the California real estate market for much of its activity. In Grants Pass and Medford, California has always been regarded as their largest “feeder” market, driven by Baby Boomers seeking retirement.

So when sales in California began to tank back in 2006, the Grants Pass, Medford, and Southern Oregon real estate markets tanked right along with them. Now comes the latest news regarding the recovery of the California real estate market.

Sales statistics indicate that California may finally be coming out of its economic tailspin. Statistics show that Continue reading The Grants Pass, Medford, and Southern Oregon Real Estate Market Recovery and the California Real Estate Market

The economic indicators for national and local real estate markets are mixed these days. At the national level for January, 2009, home prices plunged by 19% from a year ago in 20 of the largest cities in America. However, while the Grants Pass, Medford, and Southern Oregon real estate markets have experienced a drop in prices compared with prices from a year ago, the price drops have not been nearly as severe as in the large metropolitan areas.

The price drops for both the national and the local markets are directly related to the inflated inventory of foreclosures, unsold homes, and the forces of supply and demand. Meanwhile, over the last 2 months, applications for refinancing have surged, and for the month of February, the number of pending sales nationwide is up compared with a year ago.

These mixed statistical messages suggest Continue reading The Latest Economic Indicators for the Grants Pass, Medford and Southern Oregon Real Estate Market

In my last blog, I described the dangerous circumstances created by outsourcing America’s great manufacturing industries and choosing easy profit over long-term financial stability. It seems we’ve become a nation that imports more than it exports and borrows more than it lends. We arrived in this predicament by allowing government and big business to sell out our economy on the promise that free trade and the global economy would allow us to continue to prosper. Admittedly, some have prospered though not who we believed it would be. How can anyone believe that shipping electronics and software jobs, manufacturing and industrial production, and a whole host of other revenue-rich concerns to other parts of the world would help us? How could anyone believe that we could import $500 billion worth of oil and then burn it without producing hardly anything of value in exchange be good for our economy? This is what we let happen. We sold out or wore out our best divisions of the best businesses that we call American and now we have little left over to sell. So we have but one choice — restructure!

That is what our new leadership in Washington is talking about. I have voted Republican most of my life and when I hear my Republican friends complaining about the debt we are incurring, I ask “What’s the alternative?” Continue reading Selling Southern Oregon, Restructuring America, and a Return to Economic Prosperity, Part II